Individual-check distributer



PATENTED SEPT. 20, 1904.

J. T. HICKS. INDIVIDUAL CHECK DISTRIBUTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 23, 1904.

N0 MODEL} Qm-L twcowa UNITED STATES Patented September 20, 1904.

JOHN T. HICKS, OF MEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS.

INDIVIDUAL-CHECK DISTRIBUTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 770,581, dated September 20, 1904.

Application filed March 23, 1904.

This invention relates to a device for hold ing checks of the kind commonly used in restaurants of the quick-lunch variety.

The'object is to provide a simple, light, and,

neat receptacle that can be easily carried upon the belt of a .waitress or otherwise and which will contain a considerable supply of individual slips properly marked and adapted for punching, said slips being individually removable from the receptacle from time to time as they may be required for use in serving customers.

The invention therefore consists,essentially, in the construction and combination of parts and in various details and peculiarities of arrangement, substantially as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is a perspective View of my improved check-distributer shown attached to a belt for supporting it. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the check-distributor. Fig. 3 is a transverse section. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section.

Similar numerals of reference designate like parts throughout the different figures of the drawings.

1 denotes a box or receptacle. of any desired size and shape and made of any desired material, 'as wood or metal. The box will generally be light enough so that it may be easily supported by a belt or carried in any other convenient way. Ordinarily this box will be of such size as toaccommodate neatly therein a pile of checks of the size commonly required for use in checking the values of food supplied in the service of restaurants, hotels,

and other eating-houses, more particularly those places where the service is rapid and of a hasty or quick-lunch character. The bottom of the box is slotted. In case the body of the box 1 Serial No. 199,595. (No model.)

is made of wood this bottom may be a plate 2, screwed or otherwise attached to the body and having a slot 3. The group of checks 15 within the box 1 rests on the bottom 2, and the bottom check is exposed to the touch of the hand through the slot 3. The pile of checks 15 when the box is first put into use will substantially fill the body 1, and on these checks lies a weigh ted plate 12, having at the opposite sides lugs 13, that engage vertical grooves 14 in the sides of the box. This heavy plate 12 exerts a pressure on the checks and keeps the group there of resting firmly over the slot 3, and as this group diminishes in consequence of the individual withdrawal of its members the plate 1 follows down within the box, the lugs 13 and the grooves 14 serving to allow this to take place properly. If desired, a spring device may be substituted in lieu of the plate 12 or may be used in conjunction with the plate, in which case the plate would probably be lighter in weight than otherwise.

At one end of the box, preferably the front end, near the bottom is a slot 8, through which the checks are individually removed from the box. The size of the slot is adjusted to correspond with the thickness of the checks by means of an adjustable plate 7, located vertically inside the box 1 and provided with a clamping-screw 9, which lies within a slot 10 in the end of the box. A washer 11 is interposed between the slotted head of the screw 9 and the adjoining end of the box. By loosening the screw 9 by applying the screwdriver to its slotted head the plate 7 will be loosened, so that it may be adjusted with relation to the bottom 2, and thus the Width of the slot 8 made greater or less. Slot 8 must be of an exact size to correspond to the thickness of the checks 15, so that only one check may be possible of removal at the same time.

box through the rear end thereof, which is open and is provided with a sliding cover 4, having a lip 5 serving as a handle, said cover 4 being kept in place in the grooves 6 cut in the sides of the box 1.

16 indicates a belt such as is worn by a Waiter or waitress in a restaurant, and to this 9O Commonly the checks are inserted into the belt the box 1 can be attached in any suitable way. Ordinarily it will be found convenient to attach the box so that it will occupy an inclined position, as shown in Fig. 1, the slotted end of the box being the lowest, and in order to make the adjustment in this way loops or staples 18, secured to the side of the box 1, may be utilized, the belt 16 passing through these fasteners.

If desired, the top of the box near the front may be furnished with an opening at 17, consisting merely of asmall hole, through which a pencil or other device may be inserted for the purpose of adjusting the position of the group of checks should they in any way become displaced.

it will be understood, of course, that various modifications and changes may be made in precise construction and arrangement of the various parts without varying from the scope of my invention. 1 do not wish to be restricted to making the box for right-hand use or left-hand use, nor do I Wish to be confined to making that portion as the top which is here so designated or that portion as the bottom which is here so designated, for a reversal may be had, the object being simply to as often as it is necessary to use a check for a customer.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of a box having a slot, a plate whose edge forms one side of the slot, said plate being adjustable and provided with a clamping device for adjusting the edge thereof to regulate the size of the slot, a box-bottom having an opening on which the checks rest so as to be exposed to the action of the hand for the purpose of expelling them through the exit-slot, guide-grooves in the inner sides of the box, and a follower on the group of checks for keeping the group in position, said follower engaging the guidegrooves.

2. The combination of a check-carrying box having an exit-slot at one end and having also an opening in the bottom, over which opening a group of checks is arranged, guide-grooves in the sides of the box, afollower resting on the checks to keep the group from displacement and having lugs that engagethe guidegrooves, means consisting of an adjustable plate provided with a clamping-screw for regulating the size of the exit-slot, and means consisting of a removable slide for permitting the checks to be introduced into the box.

Signed at Boston, Massachusetts, this 19th day of March, 190 i.

JOHN T. HICKS. 

